Credit: Michael Harvey
Born in 1975 in Paris, France
Lives and works in La Ferté-Gaucher, France
Sonia Hamza is a Franco-Moroccan artist whose work explores the boundaries between image and material, through pieces that question notions of identity, territory, and temporality.
A graduate in Fashion Design from ENSAA Duperré in Paris (1997), she continued her studies the following year at Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design in London. She later deepened her photographic practice while assisting French photographer Jonathan Abbou, and refined her technical skills with Thai photographer Manit Sriwanichpoom, with whom she regularly collaborates on the editing of her photographs. In parallel, she trained in tapestry weaving with Claude-Marie Thibert-Boutou, Meilleur Ouvrier de France, an experience that led her to merge textile and photography, creating works that combine embroidery, photography, and graphic transfer.
Exploring both urban and rural dynamics as well as fleeting moments of everyday life, her work has been showcased in numerous artistic events across Europe, including the Audiovisual Black & White Festival in Porto, Portugal (2013), the Format International Photography Festival in Derby, UK (2017), and Encontros de Imagem in Braga, Portugal (2022), where she was awarded the Second Discovery Prize. She has also exhibited extensively in Asia, notably at the Yangon Photo Festival in Myanmar (2015) and the Photo Bangkok Festival in Thailand (2018).
In 2025, Sonia Hamza undertook a residency at the Goethe-Institut in Lisbon to further develop Pause Longue, an artistic project initiated shortly after the Covid-19 pandemic, which reflects on our relationship with time and slowness.
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Solo Exhibitions
2024 – Pause Longue – Autumn Time, Institut Français of Tétouan, Morocco, Oct 17 – Nov 15
2024 – Nuances des pas perdus, APICIL, Paris 9th District, France, Feb – Jun
2023 – Nippon Kiss (Les couleurs de Tokyo and Polaroids), Paris Victoire Business Center, Paris 9th District, France, Jul 11 – Oct 12
2023 – Chant de laine – Je te vois… plus du tout, Omnius Gallery, Arles, France, Jun 10 – 30
2021 – Chinatown Doesn’t Follow Bangkok’s Metronome, virtual exhibition, www.parisartistes.com, Apr 16 – May 15
2019 – Nippon Kiss, Médiathèque and MAPA, Château-Thierry, France, Mar 23 – Apr 27
2018 – Nippon Kiss, Espace 36, Saint-Omer, France, May 26 – Jul 7
2017 – Nippon Kiss, Soy Sauce Factory, Bangkok, Thailand, Feb 11 – 28
2017 – Passe-moi le ciel !, Project 189 Residency, Bangkok, Thailand, Jan 3 – 5
2016 – Nippon Kiss, Les Cuizines, Chelles, France, Feb 19 – Apr 4
2011 – Workshop, 59Rivoli, Paris, France
Group Exhibitions
2024–2025 – Chant de laine, Art Week Miami Beach, The Betsy Hotel, Miami Beach, USA, Dec 6 – Nov 20, 2025
2024 – Nuances des pas perdus, Abla Ababou Gallery, Rabat, Morocco, May 24 – Jul 2
2024 – Bangkok Doesn’t Follow Bangkok’s Metronome 06, Biennale of Contemporary Art, Maison des Arts Plastiques, Champigny-sur-Marne, France, Jan 16 – Feb 15
2023–2024 – Les couleurs de Tokyo and Chinatown Doesn’t Follow Bangkok’s Metronome, “Memories of our Cultures,” The Betsy Hotel, Miami Beach, USA, Dec 7 – Nov 30, 2024
2023 – Pause Longue, “Un Air d’Été,” Abla Ababou Gallery, Rabat, Morocco, Jun 15 – Sep 2
2023 – Nuances des pas perdus, En Aparté, Paris, France, May 24 – Jun 24
2022 – Chinatown Doesn’t Follow Bangkok’s Metronome, Encontros da Imagem, Braga, Portugal, Sep–Oct
2021 – Vibrations, Bastille Design Center, Paris, France, Oct
2020 – 14th Julia Margaret Cameron Award, FotoNostrum Gallery, Barcelona, Spain, Sep–Oct
2018 – The French Connection, Bangkok Photo Biennale, Bangkok University Gallery, Thailand, Jul 7 – Aug 31
2017 – Flâneur Retrospective, Format International Photography Festival, Derby, UK
2017 – New Invasion Festival, Torres Vedras, Portugal
2017 – Le Jeu de cette famille, “Objectif Femmes,” 9th District City Hall, Paris, France
2016 – Ilsan Artistics, Goyan Aram Nuri Art Center, Seoul, South Korea, Sep 27 – Oct 2
2016 – 6Factory, Clichy-la-Garenne, France, Oct 7 – 9
2016 – Flâneur, Jardim do Príncipe Real, Lisbon, Portugal, Aug 25 – Sep 18
2016 – Elles Aussi au Silo, Le Silo U1, Château-Thierry, France, Jul 9 – Sep 4
2016 – SlideLuck Trieste, Museum of the Territory of Poreč, Croatia, Jun
2016 – SlideLuck Tokyo, Apr
2015 – SlideLuck Fez, SlideLuck Roma & Bitume, SlideLuck Madrid & Manila, SlideLuck Trieste
2015 – 7th Yangon Photo Festival, Yangon, Myanmar
2014 – Open Studio, Sefrou, Morocco
2013 – Audiovisual Black & White Festival, Porto, Portugal
2012 – Tezukuriichi and Aozorakoten Art Markets, Tokyo, Japan
2011 – 59°, 59Rivoli, Paris, France
2010 – Mickeyland, Galerie Art Présent, Paris, France
2010 – 59Rivoli, Paris, France
2007–2008 – La Villa de Mademoiselle B (Barbie), Cité de l’Architecture et du Patrimoine, Paris, France
Residencies
2024 – Maison des Chapitres, France, Mar–Apr
2023 – Institut Français of Tétouan, Morocco, Oct–Nov
2019 – Lizières, Épaux-Bézu, France, Mar
2017 – ProcurArte, New Invasion Festival, Torres Vedras, Portugal, May
2016–2017 – Project189, Bangkok, Thailand
2016 – ProcurArte, Flâneur, Lisbon, Portugal, Jun
2014 – AIR Culture Vultures, Sefrou, Morocco, Sep
2010–2011 – 59Rivoli, Paris, France
Awards & Distinctions
2023 – Public Award, 2nd edition of En Aparté, Paris, France
2022 – 2nd Prize, Discovery, Encontros da Imagem, Braga, Portugal
2017 – 1st Prize, “Identity,” Fix Photo Festival Awards, London, UK
2015 – Best Portfolio Review Award, Hamburg Triennial of Photography, Germany
2014 – Nominee, Still Life, Black & White Spider Awards
2014 – 3rd Prize, Silken Photo Award
2013 – 3rd Prize, Métropole competition, Myphotoagency.com
2013 – Award, Printemps de la Photographie, Romorantin, France
2009 – 2nd Prize, Paris vous sourit, GALERIE VU’, Paris, France
2009 – 2nd Prize, Cantine Argentine Photography Competition
2001 – 1st Prize, Multisensory Board for Cartier “Eau” fragrance, Créations Aromatiques
Education & Training
2013 – Tapestry weaving workshop, Claude-Marie Thibert-Boutou (Meilleur Ouvrier de France), Charentenay, France
2011 – Evening courses in analogue and digital photography, City of Paris
2009 – Assistant to photographer Jonathan Abbou, Montreuil, France
2000–2001 – Anatomy & Morphology, ENSAA Duperré, Paris, France
1997–1998 – Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Arts, Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design, London, UK
1994–1997 – BTS in Fashion Design, ENSAA Duperré, Paris, France
Contact
sonia.hamza@gmail.com
00 33 6 08 68 41 16